Sapphire Unveils the Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition

Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition is the first card based on the revolutionary new graphics GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD to feature the SAPPHIRE exclusive and world acclaimed Vapor-X cooling technology.

The Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition is the first card in this generation to use the Sapphire exclusive implementation of Vapor chamber cooling technology. Previous products with Vapor-X have received world wide acclaim for delivering very efficient cooling that allows the card to run at higher speeds but with very low noise levels. Based on the latest GPU technology from AMD, the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition has 1 GB of the latest DDR5 memory, and is factory overclocked with core clocks of 1100 MHz and memory clocks of 1300 MHz (5.2 GB/s effective) to deliver excellent performance.

Working or gaming with multiple monitors is becoming increasingly popular, and the Sapphire HD 7700 series supports this with AMD Eyefinity, now in its second generation. The Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X OC Edition has two DVI ports (DVI-I and DVI-D), HDMI and a single DisplayPort output, supporting up to four monitors. In addition, the Sapphire HD 7700 series cards can output multiple, independent audio streams allowing the correct audio content to be associated with different applications on different screens.

HDMI specifications have increased in the HD 7000 series. Fast HDMI 1.4a supports Stereoscopic 3D with enhanced frame rates of 60 Hz per eye - 120 Hz total. It is also ready for the next generation of 4K displays that can be driven from a single high speed input of 3GHz HDMI 1.4a or DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2.

APP Acceleration is the name given to the enhanced performance of a wide range of applications using the stream processing capabilities and specific hardware features of the graphics architecture. The HD 7000 series has been optimised for this type of task. Typical applications include Video encoding and decoding, compression and multiplexing for media distribution, gaming or video conferencing. APP acceleration can also enhance everyday tasks such as Internet browsing, Office applications and file compression with supported software suites.

The HD 7000 series is the third generation of DirectX 11 compatible solutions from the graphics division of AMD - formerly ATI. The new Sapphire HD 7700 series is ready for DirectX 11.1 and the new Windows 8 operating system as well as delivering all the features of the current DirectX 11 such as DirectCompute11 and multi threaded communications with the CPU. Communication with the host PC is optimised with the implementation of the latest high speed PCI-Express Gen 3.0 interface, and multiple cards can be used to further enhance performance in CrossFireX mode on a suitably specified mainboard.

I would've hoped that after 2 generations, performance % would have increased somewhat similar to how the high-end segment progresses...usually between 10-20% per generation...so in theory, the 7770 SHOULD be about 20-40% faster than a 5770, but why would they want to do that?

HDMI specifications have increased in the HD 7000 series. Fast HDMI 1.4a supports Stereoscopic 3D with enhanced frame rates of 60 Hz per eye - 120 Hz total. It is also ready for the next generation of 4K displays that can be driven from a single high speed input of 3GHz HDMI 1.4a or DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2.

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This is the only part that interests me. I'm just going to wait until the 8k series comes out...still can't believe something worthwhile still isn't out for me to upgrade to without spending over $200, especially since I got my 5850 back when it was $250

I would've hoped that after 2 generations, performance % would have increased somewhat similar to how the high-end segment progresses...usually between 10-20% per generation...so in theory, the 7770 SHOULD be about 20-40% faster than a 5770, but why would they want to do that?

This is the only part that interests me. I'm just going to wait until the 8k series comes out...still can't believe something worthwhile still isn't out for me to upgrade to without spending over $200, especially since I got my 5850 back when it was $250